Kims of Comedy today -- royalty tomorrow?

Jane Ganahl

Published 4:00 am, Friday, July 8, 2005

Photo: John O'Hara

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Steve Byrne (from left), Bobby Lee and Kevin Shea go for the funny bone in their "Kims of Comedy" showcase at the Punch Line, which they hope will turn into a nationwide tour. Chronicle photo by John O'Hara

Steve Byrne (from left), Bobby Lee and Kevin Shea go for the funny bone in their "Kims of Comedy" showcase at the Punch Line, which they hope will turn into a nationwide tour. Chronicle photo by John O'Hara

Photo: John O'Hara

Kims of Comedy today -- royalty tomorrow?

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

"The Asian comedy market is one that has never really been tapped," says Steve Byrne, lounging in the green room of the Punch Line Comedy Club. "I mean, even animals have their own planet!"

The remark evokes gales of laughter from his two fellow comics -- "Mad TV's" Bobby Lee and rising star Kevin Shea ("Jimmy Kimmel Live") -- who are sharing a couch and a drink before the evening's "Kims of Comedy" showcase, which runs through Saturday night.

You've most likely heard of the "Kings of Comedy," perhaps even the "Queens of Comedy" or the "Latin Kings of Comedy." And now we have (rim shot) the "Kims of Comedy," an all-Asian revue. It was only a matter of time.

Despite the Irish last names sported by two of the three, all are Korean. Byrne, who has just been called a "halfie" by his two full-blooded friends, is the product of an American GI and a Korean woman he met during the Vietnam War. Shea, 28, was adopted as a 7-year-old, and Lee is from a very traditional Korean household; his parents, embarrassed that their son refused college and became a comic, barely spoke to the now-30-year-old. Until he had that first big breakthrough.

"The day after I went on 'Leno' for the first time, my dad called me," says the uber-manic Lee. He shrinks his already-small frame even further and scrunches up his face to imitate his father. "I sorree we did not supp-ott you, " he stammers.

If this had come from an Anglo comic, this characterization might have been deemed racist. But these are the Kims of Comedy, and Asian humor is de rigueur. It's something of a celebration for these three (who will be joined by a fourth, "Dr. Ken" Jeong, on Friday and Saturday nights) to be together. Asian comedians don't enjoy great representation in laugh houses or on TV, and this elite group is clearly reveling in the like-storied company -- and excited about the possibility of a real "Kings of Comedy"-style tour.

"It's been coming together for a long time," says Lee. "I did 'Tonight' four years ago, and Steve called me from New York and said I'm half-Korean and would like to meet you. So we eventually met in L.A., and it was great, wasn't it, Steve?"

Byrne sighs on cue. "You humped my leg like a puppy."

Lee ignores him and continues. "And then I kept hearing about this Dr. Ken guy, people kept saying he's Korean and so funny! So we met and also became friends. And then eventually, I met Kevin and thought he was also really funny."

He pauses in the rapid-fire delivery. "Whenever I meet an Asian comic it stirs something up in my emotions, you know?"

Byrne sighs again. "And it makes you want to hump their leg."

Lee leaps up and tries to demonstrate on Shea, who shoves him away, laughing.

The group was approached about doing a tour, and it was suggested they enlist Margaret Cho to headline. "But first of all, she'd never do it," says Byrne, also 30, "and secondly, the tour would be called, 'Margaret Cho and Those Other Guys.' "

They all laugh. Then Byrne gets serious for just a split second.

"I think the combination of the four of us could really be a breakthrough for Asian comedy. We all have TV credits now, and I'm hoping the four of us can make a difference."

Shea pipes up: "People need to know that Asian comedy is about more than Dat Phan." As if rehearsed, all three comics groan when the name of the 2003 winner of "Last Comic Standing" is mentioned.

Shea and Lee also tease the smooth-talking, good-looking Byrne about having been chosen to host a new show on the AZN ("Asian, get it?" quips Lee) TV network. "It's like BET, only no one watches it," explains Shea, while Byrne blushes.

Asked if there is a "Korean comedy style," they all shake their heads. "We're all so different," says Byrne. "I do voices and impersonations, Kevin is kind of a monologue guy, Ken is a hip-hop doctor, and Bobby? Well, he's just crazy."

Although all of them draw on their heritage, they do it with differing points of view.

"You're not going to get hammered with Asian jokes," Byrne says. "I don't think I've ever done a joke about the difference between Asians and whites. Black comics play that card more than anybody."

At the same time, their race is often the elephant in the room. Byrne notes that when he was the only nonwhite comic at a recent college gig, "this kid sat in the front row, holding his eyes like this." He pulls his eyelids out to the side to make his eyes squint.

Lee and Shea gasp out loud. "Get the f -- out!" laughs Lee.

Shea notes that his family is truly multi-culti, so his humor is all over the ethnic map. "My parents adopted two Korean children, and they already had two white daughters, who have adopted black children!"

Byrne laughs. "Man, your family could be a Benetton ad!"

Shea goes on stage first and, after a slow start, gets the audience rocking with his edgy blend of dark humor and a political incorrectness. Noting a group of Filipinos in the audience, he congratulates them for "getting out of the fish market for the night!" Thankfully, they roar with laughter.

He draws on his interesting family setup, saying his parents collected children "like Star Wars figures," and when he mouthed off to his father, the response was, "Watch your mouth, boy! I still have the receipt!"

Byrne's humor is smooth, like an acting monologue, with occasional jolts of surrealness. "I want to catch a squirrel so badly, and I want to sit down with John Mayer on a Sunday afternoon and write a song about it."

He says that when asked, he tells people he is half-Asian. "And they imagine I come from some kind of island nation where I play volleyball on the beach with Keanu Reeves and Tiger Woods." And he finishes with an indescribable-in-print (and very funny) imitation of Bruce Lee having sex.

Lee storms the stage to close the evening, and the "crazy" adjective is put to good use. His over-the-edge material is razor-sharp, sometimes X-rated, and often delivered at ear-shattering decibels. Of the fact that he recently shaved his head, he laments, "I wanted to look like Kojak but instead I look like 'The Golden Child' with Down's syndrome."

After a particularly hilarious-slash-offensive imitation of "American Idol" reject William Hung, he stops for a split second to tell the audience, "I'm Margaret Cho! I really am!"